Top fund ignores India's GDP estimates

Mumbai

FOR India's biggest fund manager, S Naren, there are better ways to gauge economic growth than the nation's much-reviled official estimate of gross domestic product.

Mr Naren says he relies on data for spending on soap and toothpaste, travel and electricity usage when deciding where to invest ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co's US$29 billion assets. Double-digit demand growth for everything from fuel and air travel to air conditioners means he doesn't worry about whether GDP data overstates the economy's strength. Only rising oil prices or a sub-par monsoon would derail his bullish bets on power utilities and finance companies, he said.